After waking up from a much needed nap on my first day in Sochi, I ventured out to explore a bit. I had a few things I wanted to accomplish on this first day, since I didn’t have any events scheduled until Day 3:

1. Pick up my media badge at the Sochi Media Centre

2. Get a SIM card for my phone

3. Buy the postcards that I had promised to my Kickstarter backers

The city of Sochi is about an hour’s train ride from Adler and the Olympic Park. I left the hotel, hoping to find a bus to the train station, but there were no bus routes nearby. The nearest bus stop was a 20 minute walk away. So off I went to find it from the broken Russian directions I got from the hotel’s front desk. I finally found a bus that took me to the train station, where I caught my very excited first glimpse of the Olympic Park and Bolshoy Arena from the train platform!

It was a gorgeous day, which made for a beautiful train ride along the Black Sea.

My first task was to find a SIM card for my phone. From my research before arriving, I had decided to go with the Megafon Olympics package for only 400 Rubles (about $12) giving me 5GB of data. I found it and I was in business!

From there I met up with a lovely Canadian, who I had met on the Canadians to Sochi Facebook group, for lunch and we exchanged travel stories and information. She had taken a 24 hour train from Moscow to Sochi! Wow!

My new friend knew exactly where the Sochi Media Centre was, so she led me there after lunch. I was really surprised to find that no one in the media centre spoke English. I communicated completely through my phone’s Google Translate app and after about 20 minutes, walked out with my pass.

Next, I walked around Sochi looking for postcards, Olympic landmarks and fun touristy stuff. I never found the postcards that day, but I did find these:

Sochi was a beautiful city with lots to see, beautiful architecture, and the warm weather (about 17 celsius) made the experience that much better! I would have loved to spend more time there, but it wasn’t possible with my crazy Olympic event schedule.

I returned to Adler in the late afternoon/early evening and headed to the Olympic Park to try and get the lay of the land. Stay tuned for that story and my inspiring first visit to the Canada Olympic House!

My flight from Amsterdam to Sochi was smooth. I enjoyed some classic Dutch pub food (bitterballen & een biertje) at the Schiphol airport pre-flight and then boarded the plane for the first leg to Istanbul. The layover in Istanbul was short and the board was already flashing “last call” for my next flight, so I was once again running thought he airport. It was probably one of the more confusing airports I’ve seen with unclear signage and odd organization. But after some confusion and asking around, I found my gate. This was my first experience boarding a bus to get out to the plane on the tarmac. (I’ve never shared the road with giant airplanes before!) It was kinda cool to feel how big these machines actually are by standing with beside it on the ground and then climbing the stairs to board.

I sat down beside a man who turned out to be an agent for many of the USA hockey team’s NHL players and he told me that he had been sitting beside the Stanley Cup on display in the airport lounge for about 8 hours that day. Then he told me that the Stanley Cup was on the plane with us! How awesome is that?! Ya, pretty awesome!

We landed at the Sochi airport at 4am and it took about 30 minutes to pass through passport control and then I went to the luggage belt to I wait for my bag. I waited and waited and in the end, no bag. Arg!

photo: Kyle Brayer

I spent the next 2+ hours filling out paperwork and trying to figure out where my bag got held. It seems this isn’t uncommon with Turkish Airlines, as I was one of four people whose luggage didn’t arrive. So after much frustration, they found that my bag had been left behind in Istanbul and it would be on the next flight out. On Monday. Today was Friday. I’m not looking forward to 3 days in the same clothes.

After activating my Spectator Pass, I went looking for a taxi to get me to my hotel. The 10 minute drive took a half hour because he had no idea where he was going, even though I had printed out a map to the hotel. After much convincing, he finally called the hotel and we were only a block away. I thanked him, paid him and he ended up giving me some money back for the inconvenience. Pretty sure THAT has never happened before!

It was now 7am, and I was finally in my hotel. Evgeny, the lovely man who runs the hotel, doesn’t speak more than about 5 words of English, so he communicates through his mobile phone’s translator app. He’s pretty awesome. Finally, everything was done and I creeped into the room where my new roommate was sleeping, apologized for waking her, brushed my teeth and flopped into bed for a much needed nap after a long night and frustrating morning of travel.

I think I more than doubled my Canadian Olympics attire in the past week and I have NO idea how I’m going to pack it all to Sochi! Not only am I bringing stuff to wear, but I’m also bringing some things to trade with other fans and photograph around the Olympic venues.

Additions to my collection this year include a reversible down jacket from the Bay, a couple of hoodies from the Sport Chek Olympics collection, and of course this year’s mittens and toque from the Bay. It’s so easy to get carried away when shopping for this stuff! Seriously, I could have bought one of everything but I was able to restrain myself. I was seriously coveting the wool sweater, but had to hold back for budget reasons.

Of course the entire Quatchi family in this photo will not be making the trip to Sochi. Only one of the small ones… Quatchi will be my “travel Sasquatch” for this adventure. He has accompanied me on a few trips now, including Thailand, Bali, and Costa Rica. Quatchi will be posting to his own Twitter account: @QuatchiTravels, so please follow to see what he’s up to!

Only one more sleep until I board a plane and start my journey to Russia! I can’t wait to get to Sochi to capture and share the Olympic Spirit with you all! I’m pretty sure I’m all set… Am I missing anything?

Go Canada GO!

With the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games just a few weeks away, many are scrambling to get their Russian tourist visa organized. The application process is not easy, cheap, or quick.

In Canada, you need to use an independent company to submit visa application. You cannot apply with the Russian consulate or embassy directly. In Vancouver, I used Any Visa Corporation, which is conveniently located in the same office as the Russian consulate.

Before applying for a Russian visa, there are a few things you need to arrange:

1. You need to have an invitation arranged with the hotel you will be staying at in Russia. If you are staying in a private home with friends or family, your host can also provide you with this invitation. If you don’t know where you will be staying when you apply for your visa, you can have the visa company arrange one for you at an additional fee.

2. If your purpose for visiting Russia is to attend the 2014 Olympic Games next month, you will need a copy of your Spectator Pass to submit with your visa application. In order to obtain a Spectator Pass, you must purchase official Olympics event tickets and provide the confirmation number found on your receipt. I purchased my Olympic event tickets in Canada through Co-Sport. Visit  www.pass.sochi2014.com to apply for your Spectator Pass.

3. Next you will need to fill in the online Russian visa application, then print and sign it. Depending on your nationality, you could have a 1-page application or a 3-page application. My application was a 1-pager, because I have a Dutch passport, but Canadian friends who applied had a 3-page application and apparently they had to provide 10 years worth or work history, home address history and travel history.

4. You will need to provide a passport photo with your application. The required size is 35mm x 45mm. I had mine taken at London Drugs.

5. Any Visa Corporation requires you to fill out their Visa Support Form as well as a Cover Sheet for the Visa Application.

6. You are also required to write a letter explaining your travel plans while in Russia. Mine stated my intended dates of entry and exit from Russia, the list of cities I plan to visit, and that I’m there to attend the Olympic Games.

7. Finally, you will need to leave your passport (make sure you have at least 2 blank pages in it, and that it is valid for at least 6 months from the date of departure to Russia) with the third party visa company, so they can send it to Ottawa with your application for processing.

8. If you are not Canadian and you are a permanent resident, like me, you will also need to provide a copy of your PR Card with the application.

The normal turnaround time for a Russian visa is 20 business days (so about a month). I’m not comfortable being without my passport for that long, so I paid the rush fee, which is supposed to have it back with a 5-day turnaround. Because I applied over the Christmas break, it took about 10 days.

The total cost for my visa with an EU passport, rush fee, and invitation was $386. The Canadian visa cost is a bit more than this. Contact Any Visa Corporation for an accurate quote at 604.559.8472.

When your visa is ready, you will get a call to come pick up your passport and supporting paperwork from your third party visa company.

Good luck!